Field of the Invention
The invention relates to self-contained breathing apparatus and, more particularly, to a coupling between the tank cradle and backpack for a self-contained breathing apparatus.
Description of Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates an existing self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) 10 made up of a backpack 15 having a chassis 20 with an air cylinder 25 mounted thereto by way of a cradle 30. Straps 35 secure the backpack 15 to a user, while hoses 40 are connected to a face mask which provides air to a user. However, in different circumstances, it is desired to use a twin pack comprised of two air cylinders or a plurality of air cylinders, rather than a single cylinder. Currently, this requires the use of separate chassis and cradles and, therefore, each different configuration requires the use of an entirely different backpack. When multiple air cylinder configurations are needed, providing separate backpacks for each configuration may be inefficient.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a single backpack that can accommodate a number of different air cylinder configurations. There is a further need to provide such an arrangement in a configuration that is simple and easy to use.